Photo Credit: Kerri-Ann Kanceruk
It had all of the feeling and intensity of a playoff game and its only October.
The Dryden GM Ice Dogs and Red Lake Miners traded punches, hits, and chances for 60 plus minutes before the hometown Ice Dogs finally pulled out a 3-2 win Saturday night.
Dryden GM came out flying with probably their best start on home ice to start the season with several great opportunities but Rose City, Texas goalie Cole Wheaton was solid making a couple of big saves to keep it scoreless.
The offense continued to attack and 4:33 into the opening frame Kale Hancock snaked his way through the defence and found Rachonne Henry who buried the puck into the net for his second of the season.
However, just two minutes later Mitchell Battersby was called for tripping setting up a Red Lake power play.
It took 8 seconds for the Miners to strike as Nic Bolin found a spot near the net to bang home the equalizer.
Jordan Baranesky and Brady Horroun assisted on the play.
The Ice Dogs immediately responded and went on the attack on a power play.
Dryden GM would pepper Wheaton with six shots, but he would stop them all.
Near the end of the man advantage Rylen Kleist corralled the puck at the blue line and found Maxine Coullette at the side of the net who lit the lamp but the back linesman called the play offside.
The Ice Dogs didn’t let up in the second carrying the play, but Red Lake minimized some quality scoring opportunities.
With the Ice Dogs rushing, Kenyon Nyman helped break up a play and stormed down ice where he got open and cashed in on a Brady Harroun pass to make it a 2-1 contest.
After a wide open first, shots were only 7-6 in favour of the Ice Dogs in the second.
The offence came back to life in the third, with both teams trading chances, but both Wheaton and Dryden’s Jordan Belley came up with some key saves.
With Tyler Gibson in the penalty box for a cross-check, the Ice Dogs were given an opportunity to get things back on equal terms.
Late in the man advantage Chase Muswagon made a great play under pressure to keep the play alive and then found Noah Schindel near the net.
That resulted in a goal mount scramble and Tyler Earl got rewarded for a strong game as he knocked home the game tying goal.
Dryden GM would run into penalty trouble giving the Miners a chance to regain the lead and take momentum away.
Max Wrath and Mitchell Battersby both took penalties late in the game giving the Miners a two-man advantage for 1:02 but they could only manage three shots on Belley as the number one penalty kill in the league once again came up big.
Both teams then settled into overtime mode, ensuring they would both walk away with points.
Overtime was short and sweet for Ice Dogs fans.
Red Lake won the opening faceoff and immediately went down ice but failed on an in-tight 2-on-1.
Dryden GM quickly turned it around for a 2-1 of their own and Jackson Jacques gave a perfect feed to Derek Koivisto who easily scored past a diving Wheaton for the winner just 25 seconds into extra time.
Red Lake outshot the Ice Dogs 34-29.
The Miners went 1/6 on the powerplay, while the Ice Dogs scored once on three tries.
With the win Dryden GM moved back into second place in the SIJHL standings with 7 points.
3 Stars
1. Derek Koivisto (Dryden GM Ice Dogs) Game winning goal
2. Tyler Earl (Dryden GM Ice Dogs) 1 goal
3. Kenyon Nyman (Red Lake Miners) 1 goal
Next Up:
Dryden GM Ice Dogs (3-2-1) vs. Kam River Fighting Walleye (1-0) Friday, October 15
Red Lake Miners (2-2-1) vs. Kam River Fighting Walleye (1-0) Friday, October 8
